What say about another Mayweather-Cotto waltz, this time in Cotto Country aka New York, at Madison Square Garden? (Hogan Photos)

Love him or hate him, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is the biggest star in the sport. Numbers don’t lie, and there is no bigger cash cow than the undefeated pound-for-pound superstar. Mayweather is scheduled to be released from jail today after serving two months of a 90-day sentence for domestic violence. His imminent return to the land of the free is sure to cause a stir, so let the clamor for opponents begin!

Here are five fights the “Money Team” should consider in order of personal preference and potential impact on the sport of boxing.

Manny Pacquiao – While boxing’s other incredibly gifted and famous pound-for-pound superstar is coming off a bogus decision loss to Timothy Bradley, a fight between the two stars would still outdraw any other potential match-up in the sport. If anything, perhaps Pacquiao’s apparent decline over the last few fights (he no longer blows through opponents like a wrecking ball thus leaving himself vulnerable to bad judging) will finally embolden Mayweather enough to take the fight. Mayweather would be favored in the fight, and it’d be the biggest fight of the decade.

Winner of Sergio Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. – Fight fans love when their guy accepts challenges beyond the norm, and no potential showdown would challenge Mayweather more than moving up to middleweight to take on the winner of the September 15th linear title bout between Martinez and Chavez. Either would present an interesting puzzle for Floyd, and both men are physically larger than Mayweather. Martinez is a gifted athlete with devastating power and an unorthodox style. Meanwhile, Chavez is already almost too big for the middleweight division, and he fights coming forward with reckless aggression and a granite chin.

Danny Garcia – While Garcia is reportedly scheduled for a rematch with the previously vanquished (but legendary) Erik Morales, a change of plan could give Garcia the chance of a lifetime. Like Mayweather, Garcia is undefeated and just keeps winning. His upset win over Amir Khan, who was until then listed as a potential Mayweather foe by many, has positioned Garcia for some serious big money fights. Frankly, he deserves them at this point, and there’s no bigger bout in boxing than a fight against Mayweather. Garcia’s youthful enthusiasm and never-say-die approach would at least make for good television, right?

Miguel Cotto (at Madison Square Garden) – Yeah, we just saw this on in May, but Cotto gave Mayweather a pretty stern test in Las Vegas, and a rematch in New York would serve two functions. First, it’d give Cotto home court advantage for the fight (which Mayweather had in the first). Second, Cotto’s legion of Puerto Rican fans, augmented by Mayweather’s added drawing power of fighting in a region of the country he doesn’t normally appear in, would make the atmosphere alone worth the price of admission. Plus, it’d be interesting to see how Floyd fares against a guy like Cotto the second time.

Robert Guerrero – Without being disrespectful to Guerrero, a fight against him would be a good way for Floyd to symbolically give the middle finger to the boxing world. Basically, he’d be saying he fights who he wants when he wants no matter what you, me or anyone else thinks about it (a.k.a. classic Floyd Mayweather). Look, nobody outside of Guerrero’s camp wants to see this one, but Floyd seems to relish being the bad guy more than most, and he’d be giving fans a double dose of it in this case because in addition to flipping everyone off, he’ll look like the devil up against the quiet, humble Guerrero. Mayweather doesn’t need an equally big name to make loads of money, and Guerrero has gone to the trouble of moving up two full weight classes to nab the interim WBC welterweight title to position himself for the fight. It’s probably a realer possibility than you think…

So there you have it, folks. Mayweather has plenty of options on the table for his return bout. Can TSS readers come up with better ones than these? Let us know!

COMMENTS

the Roast :

Mayweather-Bradley is the way Floyd will go I do believe. Bradley is harmless unless Floyd has totally lost it in the slammer. Bradley is the guy who beat Pac unjust or not, PPV numbers would be there, Floyd by saftey first UD, on to something bigger and more lucrative. That's right.

ERICKW :

Whatever it is, it will be a safe choice, not a risky one. Definitely not Pacquiao, no one bigger than he is.
Floyd should take some acting lessons. I bet he could continue to rake in cash with action movies (hopefully not low budget ones). Let's face it, the clock is ticking and I doubt he wants to be like Bernard Hopkins.

rey19792 :

Floyd never fight manny...because he knew the risk if he fight the best p4p in the world...maybe at 40 year old like hopkins he fight 4 the money not legacy....

Chicago guy :

In my opinion Floyd jr. will not fight Manny Pacquiao for only one reson. Floyd jr. is not really sure that he can defeat Pacquiao. It is very embarrassing if the fight does happen and he lose in his own home court.

GANZ :

Manny VS Floyd would be a great way to start up the new TMT company, Huge FIGHT, MONEY and they would be sticking it to GBP, which would make Arum very happy and get the deal done......BUT
Im with Roast on this one, JR. will fight Bradley so he can say he beat the man who beat the man, thats how floyd rolls.

spit bucket :

Would rather see him in with Bradley, Berto, Josesito, or Canelo than the Ghost. As much as I like him, Robert Guerrero can't hurt any top guy at welter.

ali :

@Spit bucket im with u anybody but the Ghost.

9668mike :

FMJ must try to resolve all agreement and disagreement about this matter or if however I am mistaken Pac too. They must resolve this in the ring with no "hangers". They must fight till it end without the defensive prowess and offensive to say. Give all they got!!!!!!! I think now they are in "playing field". They must do it for boxing sake....... They owe it to the boxing fans for goodness sake...l....

Radam G :

I won't even be gettin' on my bullsh*tology on this piece. The Roast has SPOKEN!
Danggit! I was dreaming last night and saw the Roast as God Posting that stuff. SCARED da HOLY shyt outta me. ["WTF! I'm DEAD and God looks like the Roast!">
I almost went to morning mass this Friday morning. I will give the Roast a high FIVE! Bambi's -- I mean Bradley's -- sorry arse Money May will beat out all the JIVE! Holla!

deepwater :

spadafora! why the heck not. at least it would be fun. spadafora was the last guy to beat the crap outta floyd.other then that, who knows. lamanchencko from the olympics might be better then floyd.lol

the Roast :

I won't even be gettin' on my bullsh*tology on this piece. The Roast has SPOKEN!
Danggit! I was dreaming last night and saw the Roast as God Posting that stuff. SCARED da HOLY shyt outta me. ["WTF! I'm DEAD and God looks like the Roast!">
I almost went to morning mass this Friday morning. I will give the Roast a high FIVE! Bambi's -- I mean Bradley's -- sorry arse Money May will beat out all the JIVE! Holla!

The Roast as God.... my mind just boggled a little bit. It would start like this. AFN would say,"do you the Roast take Maria as your lawfully wedded wife?" "I do, but before the honeymoon baby I've got to go Ref the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, I'll be right back"..... "All right Floyd, Manny, I demand a good clean fight. We are going to settle this, once and for all...lets touch 'em up and may the best man win, I've got a 6 ft 2 and a half inch blonde to climb all over...." DING!

dino da vinci :

The Roast as God.... my mind just boggled a little bit. It would start like this. AFN would say,"do you the Roast take Maria as your lawfully wedded wife?" "I do, but before the honeymoon baby I've got to go Ref the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, I'll be right back"..... "All right Floyd, Manny, I demand a good clean fight. We are going to settle this, once and for all...lets touch 'em up and may the best man win, I've got a 6 ft 2 and a half inch blonde to climb all over...." DING!

This is great stuff!
Tell the good people here at TSSU. It's make believe time. Floyd / Manny gets made. Turns out to be one of the great fights in the history of the sport. The Roast, as referee is the closest living thing to the action.
Or...
One dinner and a night out on the town with, in your words, the 6 foot, 2 and a half inch blonde.
I feel I definitely know the winner, but I can't wait to hear the set-up!

dino da vinci :

spadafora! why the heck not. at least it would be fun. spadafora was the last guy to beat the crap outta floyd.other then that, who knows. lamanchencko from the olympics might be better then floyd.lol

Deep, funny you should say this, because I heard that story as well. Then I also heard Floyd say he wasn't in shape at the time, so I figured, well, stuff happens. then one day I see the sparring session posted on youtube. If they sparred more than once, the story may be true. If they sparred ONLY once, (which is my understanding) then there's a story that took on a life of its own.
Q: What type of man shoots a woman for getting a flat tire? A woman he's suppose to love.

Big Papi :

I think FMJ will try to fight Manny now he can keep most of the money. If not, he'll fight Bradley or Canelo.$$$$$

Carmine Cas :

I agree with the roast I see Mayweather fighting a safe opponent like bradley, than maybe taking pacquiao if he feels he has declined enought

Radam G :

Lil' Floyd has also DECLINED enough. He wants no part of Da Manny. If he could not handle lockdown for a couple of months. He won't be able to handle Da Manny for a couple of rounds. Declined PacMan would KAYO DECLINED Money May EARLY! Holla!

Radam G :

Hehehehe! The Roast, as God you cannot climb up on any 6-foot-2 damsel or even an angelic dame. JFYI, GOD ain't got any cojones. Haven't you heard? No need of a D*** for Da BIG GUY! Hehehehe!
I don't know how old God is, but every nun, priest, cardinal and Pope have told me that he doesn't EVER, EVER even think about doing the nasty. So God in my dream the Roast, YOU are a d@mn cherry god.
People have said that Da Manny and Money May have cherry picked opponent, so poetic holy justice for 'em would be to have a Cherry God refereeing ___ ____ ____!
The Roast is one crazy dude. And I thought that I was CRAZY! Hahaha! Holla!

brownsugar :

Hey, Roast hears one blond I'd like to tackle (see avatar). Well,..... it's good there's somebody still willing gold for the good OL USA!!

Radam G :

Wow! What is this, the Roast? You are gonna have all the cats in da Universe ___ __ ____ for booty damsels. Muthasuckas are gonna go straight-up DAMSEL BOOTAH BLINDED! Of course -- not I.
I like 'em long on da legs and slow on da begs. Hehehe! Holla!